First Grader Dies After Collapsing In Philadelphia Classroom

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Philadelphia school district officials say a first grade student has died after collapsing in a classroom Wednesday afternoon.

The incident happened around 2 p.m. at the Andrew Jackson School in the 1200 block of S. 12th Street in South Philadelphia.

“Approximately an hour before the end of school we had a very tragic incident where one of our first-graders had a medical emergency and needed immediate assistance. The staff in the classroom provided the student with CPR and also were able to quickly get emergency services to come into the school and assist the student,” School District of Philadelphia spokesman Fernando Gallard said.

Gallard says a nurse was not on-duty at the time of the incident. He says the school’s part-time nurse is there on Thursdays and every other Friday.

“We don’t know if things would have changed if the nurse had been there or not. We do know that this child did have a medical emergency. We had, on site, CPR trained personnel who were able to help the child and were able to transport the child quickly to Children’s Hospital,” Gallard said.

The seven-year-old boy was rushed to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia where he was pronounced dead.

There is no word on what caused the child to collapse.

District officials say psychologists and counselors will be available for students and staff on Thursday.

Philadelphia Federation of Teachers President Jerry Jordan released a statement Wednesday night:

“On behalf of every member of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, I extend my deepest condolences to the family whose child was tragically and suddenly taken away from them today, and to the staff and community at Jackson Elementary, who are no doubt reeling from the loss of their student, classmate and friend.